Southington's Biscoglio will compete in pole vault for UConn women's track team

SOUTHINGTON - â€ś[Pole vaulting] was something I never thought I was going to do,â€ť Southingtonâ€™s Megan Biscoglio said after finishing her indoor track season.

Yet she recently signed her Letter if Intent to compete in pole vault for the Division I University of Connecticut.

This year, Biscoglio broke numerous records and claimed the Class LL indoor pole vaulting state title as well as tied for the best leap at the State Open, though she officially finished third at that meet.

She cleared 12 feet, 2Â˝ inches, which is the new indoor pole vaulting record at Southington High School.

Biscoglio started pole vaulting as a freshman, after an injury that ended her gymnastics career.

At first it was a lot of trial and error. She watched YouTube videos and tutorials to figure things out.

â€śIt didnâ€™t take off very quickly, I didnâ€™t even qualify for states that year,â€ť Biscoglio said. â€śThen, I started to get coached and I qualified for states for indoor and outdoor season and came in last. But then, junior year it really took off. I won the LL championship and State Opens in outdoor, and I came in second in New Englands. I set the outdoor and indoor record both last year and rebroke them this year.â€ť

Biscoglio owes all of her pole vaulting success to the nine coaches and instructors at Patriot Pole Vault in Massachusetts. The coaching staff includes Chris Combs, the Tufts University pole vaulting coach, and Douglas Lang, who was a pole vaulter for Tufts in 1992 and became a volunteer assistant coach at Tufts in 1996.

His devotion to helping all levels of developing athletes has lead him to become a volunteer coach for Worcester Polytechnic Institute and UMass-Lowell.

â€śI pole vault year-round,â€ť Biscoglio said. â€śIâ€™m up there three days a week. When I first started going there I had to break my jump down to the basics and had to relearn everything, because I created bad habits teaching myself. They just help with everything. They supply my poles for me. They come to meets when they can.â€ť

After working with the coaches at Patriot Pole Vault, Biscoglioâ€™s career took off, literally.

â€śI just made a jump Iâ€™d never thought Iâ€™d make,â€ť Biscoglio said after committing to UConn. â€śWhen I visited UConn, I felt as though the team was a family. Itâ€™s an incredible program and it has so much to offer. On top of that, the coaches and academics are great. So I felt like it was a perfect fit.â€ť

Biscoglioâ€™s other options were Lehigh University, Bucknell University, UMass and Sacred Heart, but UConn seemed to be the right fit for her.

â€śI think Iâ€™m ready for that next level of competition,â€ť Biscoglio said. â€śItâ€™s going to be a transition, but Iâ€™m really excited and looking forward to all the new opportunities.â€ť